It is well known that incorporating fluorine into organic compounds can beneficially alter their characteristics. For example, fluorine is known to improve a material's surface properties, such as gas/moisture permeability and surface tension. Such characteristics are important for polymers used in finishes, coatings, films, and the like. Additionally, fluorine is known to improve chemical properties, such as hydrolytic stability and potency. Improving chemical properties is especially important in bioactive organic compounds where minimizing dosage is a primary concern. Consequently, the incorporation of fluorinated groups, particularly trifluoromethyl groups, is common in the preparation of biomedical materials. (See, for example, A Becker, Inventory of Industrial Fluorobiochemicals (Editions Eyrolles (1996)). Therefore, fluorinated organic compounds are desirable for many applications.
The effectiveness of fluorination, however, depends significantly upon the placement of the fluorine in the compound. For example, in bioactive compounds, relatively few fluorine atoms per molecule, typically from about 1 to about 3, are required to impart the desired effect, provided that the fluorine atoms are located at key positions in the molecule. Since the effectiveness of fluorination is often critically dependent on placement, the industry continually seeks new and effective means for selectively fluorinating organic compounds.
Therefore, the selective incorporation of fluorine at specific sites in organic molecules, particularly complex organic molecules, has created a need for new fluorochemical reagents and synthesis methodologies. The present invention fulfills this need among others.